Homemade Dough Enhancer

Dough enhancer is just what you need to make whole grain homemade bread light and wonderful, just like white bread, only better. You can buy dough enhancer, but it‚Äôs more frugal‚Äď-and fun-‚Äďto mix it yourself!

Ingredients

Directions

I use a combination of wheat gluten, lecithin, ascorbic acid crystals, pectin, gelatin, nonfat dry milk, and ginger. Wheat gluten improves the texture and rise of bread. Lecithin teams up with the gluten to make bread lighter. Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) helps the yeast work better. Pectin adds moisture, as does the gelatin. The dry milk helps the dough relax (man, who needs uptight dough?), and the ginger is another yeast booster (you won‚Äôt taste it in the finished product). Most of these are also preservatives, so they help keep your bread fresh longer, and they are all natural.

Mix together and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. For 100% whole grain breads, use 3 tablespoons per loaf. Add to your recipe along with the flour.

I love dough enhancer so much I make it in triple batches and keep it in a quart-size jar.

Happy whole grain bread baking!

Note: While it’s not necessary to use dough enhancer in white bread recipes, you can! You’ll have higher loaves, and loaves that stay fresh longer. Especially in summer months, if you don’t use air conditioning, dough enhancer will help you keep your bread fresh longer.

Did you make this recipe? Share your photo here:

Make sure the page has finished loading before you upload a photo.

Max photo size is 512KB. The best size to upload is 500 x 375 pixels.

By uploading a photo, you attest that this photo belongs to you. If you are uploading a photo that does not belong to you, please provide documentation that you have permission to use the photo to FBRblog(at)yahoo.com or the photo will not be approved.

It’s probably the first 3 you’re questioning? A health food store may have most of that or an Amish store if you have them in your area. Walmart has the wheat gluten. I bought mine online at barryfarm.com.

This recipe now holds a place of prominence in my fridge and in all my whole-grain dough recipes.

I read in another area that suggested sub’ing Fruit Fresh for the ascorbic acid crystals – good call. Works fine; I just increased it a little to accommodate for the sugar that is in it, which doesn’t hurt anything, really, as sugar helps feed any yeast that may already be in the dough recipe.

As well, don’t be thrown by the ginger – it really does just ‘disappear’ into the dough. You won’t taste it.

Hurray, hurray, hurray! The Amish store in my area expanded (well, sold to another Amish family, actually) and they now stock everything needed to make dough enhancer. After two years of slowly trying to hunt down everything needed I have a nearly triple batch of dough enhancer, made and paid for in one day. There was not quite three cups of wheat gluten, so I may have over done or under done some measurements.

But now I have questions. Is citric acid the same thing as ascorbic acid? If not, too late, I already mixed it in, but inquiring minds want to know. And I found the lecithin granules in the cooler at the store, so assume I would keep the leftovers in the ‘fridge at home, and I see the mix itself is kept in the ‘fridge, but do I store the gelatin, etc. in the ‘fridge, as well? Any help will be appreciated.

lavenderblue, ascorbic acid and citric acid are not exactly the same thing, but ascorbic acid promotes the growth of yeast and can also be used in an enhancer, so you’re okay! Yes, I keep lecithin in the fridge. I don’t keep the gelatin in the fridge.

Thanks, Suzanne! Then I guess that they don’t have quite everything. Can I continue to sub the citric acid? They did have “Fruit Fresh” there,and something else with ascorbic and euthyric (sp?) acid it in. Since they both had other additives that I’d never heard of, I went with the baggie full of citric acid.

And, hey, aren’t you supposed to be finishing up your book? Not on here answering my goofy questions?
I don’t know, I haven’t read today’s post. Maybe the book is done?

If you would like to help support the overhead costs of this website, you may donate. Thank you!

We Want to Meet You

Farm Bell Recipes is all about you! If you're a member of our community and have been submitting recipes and/or blog posts to Farm Bell Recipes, we want to meet you!
Go to Meet the Cook and submit the form to be featured.